Too Many Chantrelles...Is There Such A Thing ?

['OL GREY DOG]

out of the truck and a mile 'n half bk in on a closed road i was on my stump before it got light...after 3 hours of tromp'n through 20 ft tall reprod chase'n bambi the sandwich oatmeal cookies and hot coffee were sound'n pretty good...but on the way bk down the hill/road 'ol mr ruff jumps into the timber...while slip'n the slug out of the old break down and slip'n in a 4 shot in 2 more of mr ruff's clan decide to follow him...so in the timber i go lunch forgoten....this is 40-50 ft tall reprod with the canopy closed enough that the brush 'n ferns had died out except in patchs...easy walking and after a mile or so of bump'n the grouse along i had enough for dinner...turning to go bk to the truck with my concentration out of the tree tops i realize that EVERYWHERE i looked there were patchs of bright yellow..some small some HUGE but as far as the eye could see in any direction....result being picking only the biggest,freshest,cleanest 1s i end up bk at the truck with 3 plastic grocery bags suffed full of shrooms...well i've been eat'n 'em for months...i've dry sauted and vacume packed a bunch for the freezer and have 3 or 4 lbs of fresh 1s in the fridge....so what the heck to do with 'em?

i plug in the smokers when i get home...about a 1/2 hour later me and the old woman have 'em all cleaned up...cut in 1/2(1/4s for the realllyy big 1s) and arranged on the racks/plastic screens and into a nice hot smoker they go...after 8 hours i pop 1 open and can see they arnt dry yet...at this time i pull the pan out of 1 and toss a small hand full of cherry chips in it and stick it bk in on top of the red hot element...i watch for the smoke to get going real good and maybe 5 mins later (if that) i pull it bk out and knock the rest of the chips out and put it bk...about 4 hours later the finnished product is MUCH smaller than they started (2 1 qt ziplocks full)....although much darker the smoked 1s have a very mild smokey flavor due to the short time in the smoke...anymore and they tend to get bitter...

soak 'em in hot water or broth to bring 'em bk... or just coarse chop 'em and toss 'em in a saute or stir fry or soup/stew or gravey ect ect ect...be sure if you dont presoak/reconstitute them before hand that you have enough liquid for them to absorb ...you can vacpack 'em(theyre real rubbery and stand up to it well)or in something air tight on a shelf....i think they'll keep forever but dont imagine they'll last that long....giver 'er a try....DOG

[Bill G]

Boy they really sound yummy.
Rosann

[racfish]

The Chantrells have been better then excellent this year. I just love the texture of these nice fungi.I add some to my carne Asada recipe. or put them in my soups. Even just sauteeing them in a Blackberry wine with a lil canola oil are good.